Oxford Democrat. [volume] (Paris, Me.) 1833-1933, 1887-05-31

Was. Hour after hour he sped on. The
morning ligh, began to break in the east.
as he left the highway and TUNED In to
wet his parched ,hroa, from the spring
where be had taken lunch on his jour.
ney out. lie lay down a, full length TO
drink, when hearing a ela,,er Of hoofs Ia
the road. he sprang up and ran I" quick
ly a, be could ia,o piece Of woods out
Of sight. The rider drew rein. di,moun,.
ed. secured hi. hcrss TO the fencs and
wen, to ,hs ,prins for drink OF water.
| A, hs did 80. he saw apspsr lying on
the ground. Picking |, up he read the
following memorandum on the back OF
H.
The l.,, will and testament Of Peter
Brown"
Thinking il wLs queer place Tor
such a document. and wondering bow OF
for what purpose the tramp could have
bad IL Ia hi. possession, ,for bis flight Ia
disa,rd gull, which led him TO suppose
hi, sarni,es wsre eoueei) he ,hru', Il
ia,c hs packet. aud mounting hi' hors
rode ppidlyAwAy.
The vagab5ni. travelling ia out Of
the way place. TO avoid meeting people
on the highway. reached home durins
the day. and took up bis old quarters a,
the North Fad. lie did not discover
hi. lo. ,ill after BE- had arrived. After
all hi. sfiu.. beside being the immsd.
a,o cause Of h, wifes death. he had
los, the viii, Gnh. over ,hs ground again
q. fAr As the ,prins. he wen, In search
Of il. lie wisely concluded iha, II he
had dropped It beyond that point. sons
one mus, have picked /, up. asd. fsarins
10 - farther Ia that direction. be was
reluctantly compelled to give up the
hun, Rs,arniag home he went To
pawn. brokers' And purchased 'uIt OF
clothes. lie next visited boot and
.hos store. thea = barber, snd hair
drs..ins ..looa. And whsn be hal CON-
ple,sl hi, rounds. he appeared quite
another person.
Tso day. Ai.sr. the little village Of
E-s. stirred from center % eiream.
ference by the announcement that
murder had oeen committed within iis
limits. Nor did |, lessen the excitement
.ny. ,Aa. the victim was Auns Betty. the
witch.
The f.e, had bsea A,;sflAined By Sally
Packard. who had gone to her hat to
make a call. aad WAS horihsd =. hndins
be-, cold in death. with blood on her
clothing and Aboa, the couch on which
he, body laid. sally lO', no time IN
e,n,syins the intelligence TO the villag.
era A coroner va, summoned and an
isou,., held. The mark, Of bloody
hand, were foand on the bedelo,hss. the
li,,le eupbo,rd door. the tin box and on
the p,psr, !, contained.
There were 70 mark, Of violence on
her person ba, no oas doubted that she
va. murdered. And the decision OF the
eoronsr. iary simply reflected the Popu.
lar Judgment. IL. decision was that the
deceased h.d come 10 her death ,hroasa
yiol,ae. a. the hand, Of some psr'on or
person, unknown.
Who wn the murderer and what
could have been hi, objseil This wa.
the question ,h., puzzled the wiser aud
coole, headed ones. A burglar ~oild
have visited in search Of plander almost
.ny other place in the village. they rea'
.on.d. bu, the fact thA, there WAS tin
boz in the case that the murderer had
opened, settled the matter in the mind.
of those Who had believed ,ha, 'hs had
moaey or means bid away In her hut.
Tn. III told you 90 Of these and the
inability Of sny one to give more "a
,ioual hypothesis, .wep, everything be,
fore il. aud there were ba, few who had
.ny doubts. that plcnds' was the object
OF the murder.
Prom paper. in the tin box il wa, as
e.r,,ined ,h., her right name was EliE,-
beth Beleher.
The new. Of the tragedy 'presi lar
.nd wide. and faally reached the ears OF
Geo Simpson. the lawyer. who lo'' 10
time in taking possession Of the house
hold effects, ba, no second will was
found.
The funeral was held at the church
and WAS largely attended. Mr.. Hoop.
efs funeral discourse was from Exodus
81, After treating Of what hor-
rible thing IL WI. TO take life; Of the
remors Of conscience And the weight OF
gull, that must follow = murderer; Of
the awful punishment, awaiting him a.
the hands Of his Maker, aud his sure
detection aud punishmen, on earth,
he spoke Of death as = release from
care. and responsibilities, and al en-.
trance into peace aud hsppiuss ,hs,
,..e,h all understanding, when one
ps,.ed over the river In well.grounded
hops through the Rsdeemer Of blessed
Immortality. Communities like individ.
usl. were punished for their sins. They
were visited with calAmi,ies TO quicken
the conscience and strengthen the faith
. Of the people ,hs, they nigh, never fo'.
se, their reliance upon God. lie called
upon bis hearers TO search themselves
and cast ou, all tendencies to evil; to
live better and purer lives to their own
well.being and the glory OF God.
"I, wa. q powerful Sermon" said
Deacon Taylor TO member OF the church
after the funeral was over.
"Yes. we always fnd him equal to
the OCCASION. This murder will eer.
tsinly re,ul, In good" Was the reply.
"well. brother, you always zee good
coming ou, Of everything. but ! can
hardly see how you could possibly dis.
till |. ou, Of murder" was the sarcastic
reply. "Bu, ls, US hope" he continued,
"ths, since |, ha, occurred. !, may
cause US to cast out OF our hearts all
evil feelings. We ough, TO 80 conduc,
as to avoid all appearanc, OF evil. a' the
Good Book says"
IN - continueal